


A Brighter Future

by CrypticNotCoy (Reveles)



Series: Outsider POV [31]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Accidental Time Travel, Brief mentions of torture, F/M, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, POV Maryse Lightwood, POV Outsider, Time Travel, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27947750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reveles/pseuds/CrypticNotCoy
Summary: When Maryse Lightwood from 1989 gets hit with the reflexive magic of a warlock being held by the Circle, she is transported to 2012 and learns that Valentine isn't as right as she thought he was
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Maryse Lightwood, Magnus Bane & Maryse Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Outsider POV [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933177
Comments: 14
Kudos: 234





	A Brighter Future

**Author's Note:**

> This was spawned from re-reading The Last Stand of the New York Institute, as well as reading a lot of time travel fics, I hope you'll like it!

Maryse took in the sight of the warlock with cold eyes. Ever since the disastrous night that had ended with the unfortunate casualties of the Whitelaws, Valentine had been hell bent on making the warlock pay. It had taken about a week, but now they had managed to find him and sneak up on him while his magic was depleted, no doubt from one of his frivolous clients.

Now the warlock was tied to a chair in the Circle's impromptu headquarters in one of the many deserted warehouses in New York. She looked at the barely conscious warlock, his once artful makeup smeared, and blood on one side of his face from where he had put up a fight against the full power of the Circle, not going quite as easily as they had thought.

Maryse's job was to guard him, make sure he couldn't escape before Valentine worked out how to best exact his revenge. And so, Maryse leant against the cold metal of the wall and watched the barley moving High Warlock. Something about the entire ordeal didn't sit right with Maryse, but she wouldn't dare to voice it, not around Valentine, not when he could hurt her son.

The warlock shifted, the slightest movement that would have been imperceptible had Maryse not been watching him like a hawk. Maryse stood up from against the wall and drew her broadsword warily.

"He was torturing a child you know," the warlock said weakly, his cat's eyes finding Maryse's blue ones in the dimly lit room.

"He was doing what had to be done," Maryse replied coldly, though she couldn't help the twist of unease in her gut.

"In what world is blinding a child necessary?" the warlock asked, his voice still scarily quiet

"Silence warlock! Valentine will be here to deal with you shortly, until then you will remain quiet!" Maryse ordered, fighting her own unease and taking a few terse steps towards the warlock.

"You know what he's doing is wrong," the warlock stated plainly and Maryse had enough, she raised her broadsword before bringing it down to strike the warlock with the flat of the blade and knock him unconscious. The warlock flinched, closing his eyes, but just before the blade made contact, a blinding blue light filled the room.

In an instance, Maryse found herself alone in the room. The warlock was no longer tied to the chair, in fact the chair was no longer there either, and the dim single bulb light had been turned off. Confused, she made her way out the door and into the main room where the rest of the Circle had gathered, except, there was no one there. Not only was the room empty of people, but all of the supplies that they had stockpiled were gone too.

After about an hour of fruitlessly searching the warehouse, Maryse came to a conclusion. The warlock had obviously done some kind of spell on her, one she would need help with undoing. So, she did what any shadowhunter would and made her way to the closest institute.

The New York Institute looked almost the same as when she had last seen it, but something felt different, little things like the fact that one of the rose bushes was gone, replaced with a birdbath. Maryse climbed the steps and knocked on the heavy oak doors. There was a set of rushed footsteps and soon the door was pulled open by a woman who stared at her in shock.

"Hello," Maryse said with her default diplomatic smile, "I'm Maryse Lightwood, Academy graduate. I require your assistance in reversing the spell of a rouge warlock,"

The woman at the door looked at her with a cold look of judgement that was all to familiar to Maryse as one she had seen on her own face countless times before, "You are not Maryse Lightwood," she stated harshly

Maryse was taken aback, "Yes, I am,"

"That's impossible, _I'm_ Maryse Lightwood," the woman said

"What?" Maryse asked, baffled

"I'm Maryse Lightwood," the woman repeated, "I was the head of this Institute until I stepped down so Jace and Clary could take over in 2010,"

"2010? Who are Jace and Clary?" Maryse asked, her confusion breaking through her mask of diplomacy

"Yes 2010, that was two years ago. Surely you know Jace Herondale and Clarissa Fairchild, they defeated both Valentine and Sebastian in the Mortal and Dark wars. Alongside my children, Alec and Isabelle, might I add," the woman said as if Maryse should have known this already

"You mean, it's 2012 now?"

"Yes, what year do you think it is?" asked the woman, giving Maryse a weird look

"1989,"Maryse replied

The woman's face went pale, "Did you say a warlock sent you here?"

"Yes, there was an odd flash of light and then I was here," Maryse said

"Then we're going to need a warlock to help us send you back to your time," the woman pushed past Maryse, closing the door of the Institute and striding off down the path.

"Back to my time?"

"My best guess as to what has happened is that you are me from a time in my past I would rather forget. The only good thing that came out of 1989 was Alec,"

Maryse was shocked into silence, had she really been transported into the future by the warlock? It certainly would explain the sudden disappearance of everyone from the warehouse, as well as the significantly smaller hairstyles all of the mundanes had.

After a while of walking in silence, Maryse found her tongue again, questions about the future tumbling out of her mouth, all of them about her son that she had welcomed into the world only months before, "You mentioned Alec, I assume that's short for Alexander, what is he like now? Is he a good warrior? Did he marry a good shadowhunter girl? Do I have grandkids? Actually, do I have any other kids?"

Maryse's older self smiled at her questions and after a moments deliberation decide to indulge her, "Alec is short for Alexander because Isabelle, my daughter, always called him that while she was learning to talk. He is a good man, always stands up for what's right, though he can be incredibly stubborn, a piece of advise with that, don't try to feed four year old him Brussel Sprouts, it wasn't worth the yelling or the bruises. He's a very good warrior, one of the best of his generation actually, and he's a good politician, the Consul actually. No, there are no good shadowhunter girls, though he is married, and yes, I have two grandkids, Max and Rafael who I love more than anything. Yes, I have other kids, I mentioned Isabelle before, strong and smart as a whip, also one of the best of her generation with just as much stubbornness as her older brother, another son, Max, and an adopted son, Jace, who's ego is bigger than the Empire State building but has a heart of gold,"

"I-wow, thank you for telling me," Maryse said, already proud of her children, already swearing to protect them with everything she had

Her older self shrugged, "It's okay, besides, I doubt you'll remember this. Magnus is likely to wipe your memories of this time to avoid any timeline issues,"

Maryse was about to ask who Magnus was when her future self stopped at an apartment building.

"This is it," future Maryse said, pulling out a key and unlocking the door, beckoning for Maryse to follow her up. Maryse was curious as to why she had a key to the warlock's home, but before she had time to voice it, her future self was knocking on the door to the apartment.

After a moment, the door was pulled open to reveal a tall man with spikey black hair, "Maryse," he said warmly, "What brings you here tonight? Max and Rafe aren't here, they're having a sleepover at Izzy and Simon's, we finally gave in after all of their begging. I think it's because Shelby keeps giving them chocolate whenever they stay there,"

Older Maryse laughed, "Those two spoil them so much, imagine what it'll be like if they have kids of their own,"

"I don't want to imagine that," the man sighed, "They'd have a permanent sugar rush,"

The man seemed to notice Maryse standing behind her older counter part, when he looked at her, Maryse noticed his slit-pupiled cat's eyes and felt her blood rush in anger.

"It was you!" she yelled, not even thinking as she lunged forward and punched him in the face. 

Maryse felt a vice like grip on both of her arms, "Do not hit my son-in-law," her older self threatened

"I'm quite fine Maryse," the warlock said, waving his hand over his bleeding nose, "Healing magic, see? Good as new, besides, it's not the first time your past self has hit me,"

While her older self simply raised an eyebrow as asked how he knew Maryse was from the past, Maryse was still stuck on what her future self had said ' _do not hit my son-in-law_ '.

"Did you just call him your son-in-law?" she asked, cutting their conversation off mid sentence

Her older self smiled wryly, her hands still clamped on Maryse's arms, "I did,"

"You mentioned I have a daughter in the future but I never thought she would stoop so low," Maryse sneered but her heart wasn't really in the insult, truthfully, she was more surprised than anything.

While the warlock hid anything he might have felt at her comment behind an expressionless façade, her future self narrowed her eyes threateningly, "None of my children have stooped low with their partners, besides, Isabelle is engaged to an ascendant, Simon, Magnus is married to Alec,"

Maryse's eyes widened in shock, her darling baby boy, married to a male downworlder? Magnus Bane no less?

"I do believe you've shocked her speechless Maryse," the warlock said to her older self, "Do come in, I'll try to work out what I can do to fix this mess,"

"Thank you Magnus," older Maryse said and followed the warlock into the loft, still dragging her younger self by her arms. Maryse took in the cosy loft and thought that it was incredibly at odds with the way Valentine had described the warlock to them. It felt warm and homey, with bookshelves filled with spell books and picture books, kid's toys scattered on the floor, and photos decorating the walls. One of the photos in particular caught Maryse's eye, it was of the warlock and another man with familiar blue eyes, as well as two young children. One of the children had the look of a shadowhunter, even though he had no runes, the other had blue skin and small horns marking him as a warlock, though they were not who held her attention. The man with the blue eyes looked so familiar, yet also eerily different, that Maryse immediately knew who he was, her son.

The same man, who her mind was struggling to reconcile with her own adorable infant, was sitting on one of the couches, frowning at an official looking document and muttering about something called the Cohort and how they were just bigoted racists who were no better than the Circle.

When he heard them come in, the man looked up and if Maryse had any doubts about him being her son then they would have been banished immediately. She knew his eyes, they had the same look to them, that intelligent watchfulness, though there was something darker there too, memories of a time that hadn't been easy. Maryse wished she could shield him from whatever gave him that look.

"By the angel! Magnus, what happened!" he exclaimed, getting up and rushing over to the warlock who still had blood on his face from where Maryse had hit him earlier

"It's nothing darling, I've healed it," the warlock reassured him, using his magic to get rid of the blood

Older Maryse cut in, "It's not nothing, she hit you,"

Alec turned to where both Maryse's were standing and glared at the younger, "I don't know who you are but if you hurt him again I'll-"

"Alexander, please stop threatening your mother," the warlock interrupted, evidently the only one in the room who was attempting to be civil

"I'm not threatening Mum, I'm threatening the woman that hit you," Alec said

"She's the younger version of your mother," the warlock replied

"She's what?"

"She got hit with some kind of magic and transported here, I should be able to fix it momentarily," the warlock explained, already pulling an ancient looking book of a shelf.

"And somehow this still isn't the weirdest thing that's happened to us," Alec sighed and went to grab another book, clearly knowing what he was doing.

Her future self looked threateningly at her, "Can I trust you enough to let go of your arms now?"

Maryse nodded and the iron grip was released, leaving behind red marks. She rubbed at them ruefully and watched with a degree of fascination how well her son and the warlock worked together. They seemed to have some kind of silent communication, handing each other things that they needed without having to ask. 

It went on like this for a while before the warlock spoke up, "I need to do a scan of your body to ascertain what kind of magic lead you here, if I remember correctly, and I hope I do as I believe I was only captured by the Circle once, it was more of a reflex than an actual spell which should make it easier to undo,"

"You remember doing this?" older Maryse asked, surprised, "Because I don't remember it, all I know of the time the Circle caught you was going to hit you with my broadsword, again, I'm so sorry for that, and then waking up on the floor with you gone and my sword glowing slightly,"

"I don't remember exactly this, only you going to hit me and my magic lashing out reflexively," the warlock replied

"You can do the scan," Maryse agreed, "I just want to go back to my time,"

The warlock nodded kindly and made a waving motion with his hands before speaking, "It's easy enough to undo, I can do it now in fact, though I do want to apologise for this. It was never my intention to send you here, or even to do magic at all,"

Maryse could see that his apology was sincere and the small amount of guilt she had at seeing him beaten and bloody, tied to the chair in the warehouse intensified. She looked around the room, at the life that waited for him, and knew that she forgave him, and that he deserved the happiness that he had. He was just a person who was desperately trying to survive in the world, they were alike in that way.

"You're forgiven, I'd like to apologise too, both for attempting to hit you with my sword, and for punching you," Maryse said and she saw a flicker of surprise on Magnus's face, followed by a smile

"Thank you Maryse, you're forgiven too. Now, how about I get you back to your time?"

"I'd like that," Maryse agreed

"The spell will affect your memories of the time you spent here, when you get back to your time you will only remember this for around five minutes, then it is likely you will pass out and wake remembering nothing," Magnus informed her

"Okay, I think this is goodbye then," Maryse nodded, she would be sad to forget this, to forget about her future children and grandchildren, though she knew that she would know in time. It would be better that way, then she could see them live and grow, see her small baby boy grow into the incredible man in front of her.

"Yeah, goodbye significantly younger version of my mother," Alec said, smiling

"Goodbye Maryse," Magnus said with a polite incline of his head as he raised his hands to perform the spell

"Don't give me any more regrets," the older Maryse told her sternly, evidently not proud of who she had been when she was younger.

"I'll try not to," Maryse told her as everything in her vision was drowned out by blue light.

In the blink of an eye, Maryse was back in the warehouse, her sword poised above Magnus's head. His eyes were closed, and he was shrinking away from her raised blade, the fear evident on his face in a rare moment of vulnerability. In that instant, all that she had realised in the future solidified in her, Magnus wasn't a danger to her, he had done nothing wrong in protecting those werewolves. Her decision made, she lowered her broadsword slowly to her side before kneeling and untying the ropes that bound Magnus to the chair. The ropes had left behind bleeding marks, but Maryse knew that he would be able to heal them as soon as his magic was back to full strength.

With a glance to the door, knowing that the rest of the Circle was behind there, fearing what Valentine would do if he found out, Maryse whispered to Magnus, "Go, hide somewhere he can't find you. Keep helping people,"

Magnus looked at her in shock but did as she asked, walking over to the room's lone window and opening it silently, he was about to go out it when he seemed to reconsider. He walked back over to her and placed his hands on her sword, blue magic sank into it as he quietly muttered an incantation.

"Consider it a thank you, that blade will not fail to protect you and those you love," Magnus said before going back to the window and climbing out of it, disappearing into the night.

Maryse looked down at her faintly glowing sword and smiled, it seemed that Magnus Bane wasn't so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this! I love Maryse's character development, both in the books and in the show so when I had this idea I knew I just had to write it! I'd love to know what you thought of it! As always, comments and kudos are adored (but you don't have to)! Until next time!  
> ~CrypticNotCoy


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